Track belt and unit therefor



Feb. 26 1924., T 1,485,103-

* R.f1.vvHrrE TRACK BELT AND UNIT THEREFOR .Filed July 17. 1920INVENTORn ATTORNEY:

Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

ROLLILI H. WHITE, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ,THE CLEVELANDTRACTOR COMPANY, OF EUCLID, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TRACK anni' AND UNIT THEREFOR.

Application illedJuly 17, 1920. Serial No. 396,955.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at`Cleveland Heights,- in the county of Cuyahoga -and,.State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Track Belts and UnitsTherefor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescript-ion.

The object of this invention is to produce, fromsuitable pressed steellinks or units, t1ack-\belts capable of being advantageously used asparts of track laying tractors. Y,

The invention consists in the links `or units substantiallyashereinafter described and 'inf the descrlbed combination of'theseunits to form a trackbelt.

In the drawing, Fig. yl is a top plan View of two pivoted together trackbelt units constructed according to this invention; F ig. 2 is a sideelevation of said two track'cbelt units; Fig-,3 is a, front end view ofone of Each unit ismade of two pieces of pressed.

metal, to wit, a bottom plate 10, and a rail member 20, which is securedupon the bottom plate. And a track belt consists of a plurality of theseunits, the pins by which they are pivotally connected, and, preferablyalso, certain rollers which rotatably embrace certain outwardlyprojecting sleeves at the front ends of the track belt units,-

whichlsleeves are so'located that they may be engaged by the 4,teeth ofthe double sprocket. I

The bottom plate 10 has preferably its front end bent downwardly tovform the `ground grippinggrouser 12. In the completed unit this bottomplate inclines upward very slightly with respect to the hori- Zontalfrom the front to the rear end thereof, so that it may overla the frontedge of the bottom plate ofthe hnk behind it.

The rail member 20 is formed from va fiat blank of sheet metal so shapedand bent as to have the integral parts now to be specied. The middlepart of the blank between the front'and rear ends thereof serves as arail plate23 for, the track'wheels carried by the tractorto runone(t.hese track wheels, being shown by dotted lines'in Fig. 2).

Along the sides of this rail plate are longi'- tudinally extendedupwardly bent ribs 24' whose/outer edgesare extended downward inparallel vertical positions to form the rail sides 21. The lower edgesof these rail sides are secured to the bottom platel 10 in any suitableway, but preferably by means of downwardly projecting' lugs 22 which gothrough holes in the bottom plate and have their downwardly projectinglower ends upset against thelower face of said bottomplate. At the rearend of eachf rail plate and below the same, is a transversely extendedsleeve 25,-which is produced by bending a tonguewhich is integral withand extends rearward from the rail plate. This tongue is bent downwardand forward and upward again into contact with the lower face of therail plate', to which it is secured by welding cr other suitable means.The lower part of tliis sleeye rests upon, and is secured to the bottomplatel 10 by means of an integral lug 26 which isvpres'sed out from )themetal of which the'sleeve is formed, and is passed through the hole inthe bottom plate, and has its lower end upset against said bottom plate.This sleeve'25 forms an el'ectivesupport for the rear end of the raillate 23, and` it/also embraces and fits vtight y a spacing sleeve 31,whose length is substantially equal to the distance between the two railsides.

. The downturned rail sides 21 of the rail member project in front ofthe rail plate 23 j.

in the form of ears 27. Each of these ears is formed with an integra-loutwardly projecting tubular cylindrical boss 28, saidl bosses ,being inaxial alignment with each other, and beingl produced byv drawing themetal outward into the form shown.

To pivot together two of these links, in

the process of yforming a track belt, the

sleeve 25 at the rcar end of one link containing the spacing sleeve 31,is passed between the two ears 27 at the front end of the next link, andsaid sleeve is brought into axial alignment with the two tubular lugs28. A pivot pin 40 is then passed endwisethrrough one oi the tubularlugs 28 at t-he front end of one ofthe units, then through the sleeves25 and 31 at the rear end of the other unit,

has at,k its front end a forwardly projecting y tongue 38 of such widththat itnlay' pass through and t loosely in Vthe hole 37 through thesleeve of the adjacent unit, and this tongue at its front end is curveddown so as to engage and follow the curvature o the sleeve. Thesetongues aid in providingv a track belt formed of the described unitswith a substantially continuous track surface for the track wheels ofthe tractor to roll upon.

rlhere will be used with ,a track belt formed. of units vwhich areconstructed and connected as described a double sprocket, i. e., asprocket having two circumferential rows of teeth, said rows beingseparated such a distance that one set of teeth will engage one of therollers 33 while the other set of teeth will engage the other' rollers33. The track wheels (shown in dotted lines on Fig. 2) mounted yon thetractor will engage and be supported by the rail plates 23, and will beguided so that their engagement with these rail lates will be.maintained by the upwardly extended longitudinal ribs 24 at the sidesof the rail plate. e i

lt is to be described means for connecting together the rail member andthe bottom late are those which are preferred, neverthe ess these partsmay be connected together in the described relation to each other by antother means suitable for nthe purpose. e construction shown in thedrawing is the best form known to me in which the invention understoodthat although thev tenemos? said ribs, the lower edges of the sidemembers being secured lto the bottom plate.

2. A track belt unit comprising, in com-v integral rail sides which arespaced apart and which engage with and are secured to the bottom plate;said rail member having vat its rear end an integral sleeve which restsupon and is secured to the bottom plate, and the rail sides of the railmemberbeing extended forward `in the form of cars,and said ears havingoutwardly extended integral cylindrical tubularV lugs which are disposedin transverse alignment, and rollers rotatably mounted -upon `said lugs.

3. A track` belt unit comprising, a combination, a bottom plate and arail member secured thereon said rail member having a centrally disposedlongitudinally extended rail plate and downwardly extended integral railsides which are spaced apart and which engage with andare secured to thebottom plate, vsaid rail member having at its rear end an integralsleeve which rests upon and is secured tothe bottom plate, and the railsides of the rail member being extended `forward in the form'of ears,and said rail member alongeits sides having upwrdly pressedlongitudinally extended r1 s.

4. A track belt made up of a plurality of pivoted together -units eachcomprising a shoe and a rail member, said rail member comprisingdownwardlyv extendinv side portions which are secured to saidD shoe, anelevated longitudinally extending track plate which has a notch at oneend and a tongue at the other end, and ears extendingl from one endo'fthe ends of the side portions of the rail members, the said tongue lyingintermediate said ears and exthe adjacent unit.

5. A track belt unit comprising a bottom l plate, .and a rail membervsecured thereto', said rail member being formedof a single sheet ofpressed metal' bent to form a substantially horizontal railwplate havingroller` guide ribs bent up longitudinally therefrom, and rail sidesdepending from the upper "end of said ribs and secured to said bottomplate to support `the rail member.

thereon.

ln testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature. i

ROLLIN H. W'HITE.

